Accelerating the journey from research to clinic

The Precision Medicine Science Center (PMSC) partners and collaborates with health and science innovators to accelerate their journey from research to clinic. The Center offers access to the most advanced omics technologies, helping collaborators develop analytical workflows that generate precise molecular profiles of patients, knowledge that will ultimately be used to improve donor outcomes.

In addition to providing access to the industry’s most advanced analytical technologies, PMSC scientists offer complementary expertise around the development of standard protocols, all designed to help collaborators quickly progress from biomarker discovery to assay development. The goal of the PMSC is to accelerate R&D for precision medicine projects based on standardized workflows and innovative analytical capabilities.

The PMSC embodies Thermo Fisher Scientific’s commitment to providing analytical instruments, related technologies, and expertise that spans the entire multi-omics range, producing data that, when combined with clinical research observation, can unlock the complexity of systems biology at the individual level. This, and the promise of better patient outcomes for lower costs, is how Thermo Fisher defines precision medicine.

"For health and science innovators, a bottleneck exists between the discovery of biomarkers and the widespread use of them at the point of care. Our mission at the PMSC is to break that bottleneck and help scientists and physician scientists expedite the time it takes to move from discovery to the clinic. Our collaborations span the range of omics-related technologies, from next-gen sequencing to mass spectrometry, and we’ll be working side-by-side with partners to help them develop standardized and reproducible protocols and new assays that can be used broadly and reliably for precision medicine.” – Emily Chen, PMSC Senior Director

Active collaborations that span across multiple disciplines

The PMSC offers access to next-gen technology that spans genomic, proteomic and metabolomic analysis. From generating genomic data with sequencers to analyzing proteins and metabolites with advanced mass spectrometry, collaborators can rapidly move from research to clinical workflow development. With support from the PMSC, collaborators can:

Generate reproducible research with an emphasis on scalability and, ultimately, clinical utility

Enable quality control processes that enable the highest quality data, every time.

Change the culture of method sharing so that a larger community can benefit

Overcome lack of technical expertise as a barrier to discovery by quickly accessing the best tools and skillsets when needed.

Collaboration spotlight

Dr. Van Eyk is a Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Director of the Basic Science Research in the Barbra Streisand Woman’s Hearth Center and Director of the new Advance Clinical Biosystems Institute where she recently moved from Johns Hopkins University. Most recently she has become the co-director of the Cedars Sinai Precision Health, focused on in-hospital and population individualization of health care. Dr. Van Eyk is an international leader in the area of clinical proteomics and her lab has focused the developing technical pipelines for de novo discovery and larger scale quantitative mass spectrometry methods.

This includes multiple reaction monitoring (MRM, also known as SRM) and most recently data independent acquisition. Her laboratory is well known for the extreme technical quality of the data generated, rigorous quality control with tight %CV while applying these to key clinical questions. The aim is to maximize throughput and reproducibility in order to move targeted and robust discovery methods into large population healthy continuous assessment and clinical grade assays focusing on brain and cardiovascular diseases.

The PMSC is collaborating with Dr. Van Eyk on a plasma proteomics workflow from sample preparation to robustly quantify hundreds of plasma proteins using the mass spectrometry-based technology. This collaboration facilitates the development of highly multiplexed mass spectrometry-based assays for targeted biomarkers.

The PMSC in-house scientific team

The PMSC is staffed by a team of in-house scientists with diverse backgrounds in biochemistry, mass spectrometry, molecular biology and data science. The growing team works closely with collaborators to move their initiatives from concept to successful execution.

Emily oversees all activities and collaborations across the PMSC. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher in this role, she was director of Proteomics Shared Resource at Columbia University Medical Center. Emily is committed to advancing the potential of precision medicine in healthcare, especially making it easier and more practical to bring scientific knowledge to clinical settings in ways that demonstrably improve outcomes and deliver widespread efficiencies. She is personally driven by the potential to use science to overcome longstanding challenges and solve big problems related to human health and wellness.

Sebastien supports PMSC collaborators by focusing on improvements to proteomics analytical workflows, with a focus on targeted analyses that lead to clinically actionable targeted protein panels. His previous work at the Luxembourg Clinical Proteomics Center focused on developing new mass spectrometry-related methodologies to support clinical research applications. Sebastien is excited by the potential of precision medicine to guide therapeutic decisions based on individuals’ molecular profiles obtained through multi-omic approaches, particularly proteomics.

Sarah brings her expertise on Ion Torrent technologies to the PMSC to enable collaborators to examine the genomics of patient samples. Previously, she was a research and development scientist in the Clinical Sequencing Division of Thermo Fisher, where she developed library preparation and sequencing chemistries for the Ion Torrent platforms. She has spent the past 8 years designing sequencing workflows to address clinical and basic biological questions. Sarah is excited for precision medicine to have powerful impacts on patient outcomes when genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data are combined to determine both phenotype and mechanism.

Jing supports PMSC collaborators by developing new analytical platforms and improving existing workflows utilizing cutting-edge technologies with high throughput readiness and robustness. Jing also provides quality control of workflows, to make them transferable from one lab to another. She has more than ten years of experience in analytical method development with a focus on chromatography and mass spectrometry-based techniques for drug discovery and development. Jing is excited to pave the path for the discovery of disease biomarkers, develop companion diagnostic tools, and assist our collaborators to develop effective targeted therapies.

Xinyu focuses on developing next generation of proteomics analytical workflows at PMSC. He was a Research Scientist at the Northwest Metabolomics Research Center, University of Washington, specializing in non-targeted and targeted LC/MS method development for biomarker discovery and validation. His technical expertise includes sample preparation, instrumentation, and data processing. He is passionate about solving problems and believes that analytical platforms can significantly contribute to biomarker investigation and therapeutics development.

Innovative technologies for precision medicine

Innovative technologies, solutions and expertise at the PMSC help accelerate research and product/workflow development for precision medicine, enabling collaborators to rapidly progress from research and discovery to clinical trials. Research technologies include the most advanced mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing instruments, which support workflows such as label-free proteome profiling and quantitation and tandem mass tag multiplexing.

Clinical and translational research is driven by the discovery of reliable, clinically relevant biomarkers. The goal is to move as quickly as possible from positive identification discovery to verification and validation. Bridging the gap from discovery to verification and validation requires high-performing instruments and software as well as competency in mass spec-based biomarker discovery and method development for biomarker verification. This is what the PMSC delivers to collaborators.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) enables rapid sequencing of the base pairs in DNA or RNA samples. The PMSC can support a broad range of applications, including gene expression profiling, chromosome counting, detection of epigenetic changes and molecular analysis, all of which is helping drive discovery and enabling the future of personalized medicine.

The combination of mass spectrometry and next-gen sequencing lets collaborators expand their thinking on what’s possible. Molecular profiling has rapidly evolved with the onset of “omics” technologies that include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Combinations of these analytical methodologies enable clinicians to understand how biological processes differ between healthy and diseased individuals, information that is valuable for health monitoring, prevention and precision medicine.

The PMSC is committed to helping collaborators use analytical, research technologies that span the entire multi-omics range, producing data that, when combined with clinical research observation, can unlock the complexity of systems biology at the individual level. All work done at the PMSC will be driven by a quest for standardization, accelerating R&D for precision medicine based on standard protocols and quality control, and reproducibility, so that healthcare professionals can rely on omics data no matter where it is produced and analyzed.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Standardized and reproducible workflows

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Delivering standardized and reproducible workflows

The PMSC is focused on helping collaborators develop workflows that span biomarker discovery through targeted method development for clinical research.

Among the analytical workflows developed to date are label-free proteome profiling and quantitation and tandem mass tag multiplexing, both of which are designed to deliver reproducibility and standardization.

Precursor-level quantitation is the new standard for label-free quantitation. Using this approach, missing quantitative values are reduced to provide complete quantitation. This workflow delivers reproducibility and accuracy for large sample cohorts and is designed for flexibility to best serve the proteomics and clinical research community.

The tandem mass tag (TMT) workflow is a large-scale, multiplexed quantitative proteomics approach that uses isobaric tags or labels to enable high-throughput quantitative screening. It is the most precise and reproducible quantitative workflow in proteomics.

Active collaborations that span across multiple disciplines

The PMSC offers access to next-gen technology that spans genomic, proteomic and metabolomic analysis. From generating genomic data with sequencers to analyzing proteins and metabolites with advanced mass spectrometry, collaborators can rapidly move from research to clinical workflow development. With support from the PMSC, collaborators can:

Generate reproducible research with an emphasis on scalability and, ultimately, clinical utility

Enable quality control processes that enable the highest quality data, every time.

Change the culture of method sharing so that a larger community can benefit

Overcome lack of technical expertise as a barrier to discovery by quickly accessing the best tools and skillsets when needed.

Collaboration spotlight

Dr. Van Eyk is a Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Director of the Basic Science Research in the Barbra Streisand Woman’s Hearth Center and Director of the new Advance Clinical Biosystems Institute where she recently moved from Johns Hopkins University. Most recently she has become the co-director of the Cedars Sinai Precision Health, focused on in-hospital and population individualization of health care. Dr. Van Eyk is an international leader in the area of clinical proteomics and her lab has focused the developing technical pipelines for de novo discovery and larger scale quantitative mass spectrometry methods.

This includes multiple reaction monitoring (MRM, also known as SRM) and most recently data independent acquisition. Her laboratory is well known for the extreme technical quality of the data generated, rigorous quality control with tight %CV while applying these to key clinical questions. The aim is to maximize throughput and reproducibility in order to move targeted and robust discovery methods into large population healthy continuous assessment and clinical grade assays focusing on brain and cardiovascular diseases.

The PMSC is collaborating with Dr. Van Eyk on a plasma proteomics workflow from sample preparation to robustly quantify hundreds of plasma proteins using the mass spectrometry-based technology. This collaboration facilitates the development of highly multiplexed mass spectrometry-based assays for targeted biomarkers.

The PMSC in-house scientific team

The PMSC is staffed by a team of in-house scientists with diverse backgrounds in biochemistry, mass spectrometry, molecular biology and data science. The growing team works closely with collaborators to move their initiatives from concept to successful execution.

Emily oversees all activities and collaborations across the PMSC. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher in this role, she was director of Proteomics Shared Resource at Columbia University Medical Center. Emily is committed to advancing the potential of precision medicine in healthcare, especially making it easier and more practical to bring scientific knowledge to clinical settings in ways that demonstrably improve outcomes and deliver widespread efficiencies. She is personally driven by the potential to use science to overcome longstanding challenges and solve big problems related to human health and wellness.

Sebastien supports PMSC collaborators by focusing on improvements to proteomics analytical workflows, with a focus on targeted analyses that lead to clinically actionable targeted protein panels. His previous work at the Luxembourg Clinical Proteomics Center focused on developing new mass spectrometry-related methodologies to support clinical research applications. Sebastien is excited by the potential of precision medicine to guide therapeutic decisions based on individuals’ molecular profiles obtained through multi-omic approaches, particularly proteomics.

Sarah brings her expertise on Ion Torrent technologies to the PMSC to enable collaborators to examine the genomics of patient samples. Previously, she was a research and development scientist in the Clinical Sequencing Division of Thermo Fisher, where she developed library preparation and sequencing chemistries for the Ion Torrent platforms. She has spent the past 8 years designing sequencing workflows to address clinical and basic biological questions. Sarah is excited for precision medicine to have powerful impacts on patient outcomes when genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data are combined to determine both phenotype and mechanism.

Jing supports PMSC collaborators by developing new analytical platforms and improving existing workflows utilizing cutting-edge technologies with high throughput readiness and robustness. Jing also provides quality control of workflows, to make them transferable from one lab to another. She has more than ten years of experience in analytical method development with a focus on chromatography and mass spectrometry-based techniques for drug discovery and development. Jing is excited to pave the path for the discovery of disease biomarkers, develop companion diagnostic tools, and assist our collaborators to develop effective targeted therapies.

Xinyu focuses on developing next generation of proteomics analytical workflows at PMSC. He was a Research Scientist at the Northwest Metabolomics Research Center, University of Washington, specializing in non-targeted and targeted LC/MS method development for biomarker discovery and validation. His technical expertise includes sample preparation, instrumentation, and data processing. He is passionate about solving problems and believes that analytical platforms can significantly contribute to biomarker investigation and therapeutics development.

Innovative technologies for precision medicine

Innovative technologies, solutions and expertise at the PMSC help accelerate research and product/workflow development for precision medicine, enabling collaborators to rapidly progress from research and discovery to clinical trials. Research technologies include the most advanced mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing instruments, which support workflows such as label-free proteome profiling and quantitation and tandem mass tag multiplexing.

Clinical and translational research is driven by the discovery of reliable, clinically relevant biomarkers. The goal is to move as quickly as possible from positive identification discovery to verification and validation. Bridging the gap from discovery to verification and validation requires high-performing instruments and software as well as competency in mass spec-based biomarker discovery and method development for biomarker verification. This is what the PMSC delivers to collaborators.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) enables rapid sequencing of the base pairs in DNA or RNA samples. The PMSC can support a broad range of applications, including gene expression profiling, chromosome counting, detection of epigenetic changes and molecular analysis, all of which is helping drive discovery and enabling the future of personalized medicine.

The combination of mass spectrometry and next-gen sequencing lets collaborators expand their thinking on what’s possible. Molecular profiling has rapidly evolved with the onset of “omics” technologies that include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Combinations of these analytical methodologies enable clinicians to understand how biological processes differ between healthy and diseased individuals, information that is valuable for health monitoring, prevention and precision medicine.

The PMSC is committed to helping collaborators use analytical, research technologies that span the entire multi-omics range, producing data that, when combined with clinical research observation, can unlock the complexity of systems biology at the individual level. All work done at the PMSC will be driven by a quest for standardization, accelerating R&D for precision medicine based on standard protocols and quality control, and reproducibility, so that healthcare professionals can rely on omics data no matter where it is produced and analyzed.

Standardized and reproducible workflows

Delivering standardized and reproducible workflows

The PMSC is focused on helping collaborators develop workflows that span biomarker discovery through targeted method development for clinical research.

Among the analytical workflows developed to date are label-free proteome profiling and quantitation and tandem mass tag multiplexing, both of which are designed to deliver reproducibility and standardization.

Precursor-level quantitation is the new standard for label-free quantitation. Using this approach, missing quantitative values are reduced to provide complete quantitation. This workflow delivers reproducibility and accuracy for large sample cohorts and is designed for flexibility to best serve the proteomics and clinical research community.

The tandem mass tag (TMT) workflow is a large-scale, multiplexed quantitative proteomics approach that uses isobaric tags or labels to enable high-throughput quantitative screening. It is the most precise and reproducible quantitative workflow in proteomics.